Trump Promises He'd Commute the Life Sentence of 'Silk Road' Founder Ross Ulbricht (semafor.com) 283
In 2011 Ross Ulbricht launched an anonymous, Tor-hidden "darknet" marketplace (with transactions conducted in bitcoin). By 2015 he'd been sentenced to life in prison for crimes including money laundering, distributing narcotics, and trafficking in fraudulent identity documents — without the possibility of parole.
Today a U.S. presidential candidate promised to commute that life sentence — Donald Trump, speaking at the national convention of the Libertarian Party as it prepares to nominate its own candidate for president.
Commuting Ulbricht's life sentence is "a top demand" of a political movement that intends to run its own candidate against Trump, reports Semafor: "On day one, we will commute the sentence," Trump said, offering to free the creator of what was once the internet's most infamous drug clearinghouse. "We will bring him home." His speeches more typically include a pledge to execute drug dealers, citing China as a model.
"It's time to be winners," said Trump, asking rhetorically if third party delegates wanted to go on getting single-digit protest votes. "I'm asking for the Libertarian Party's endorsement, or at least lots of your votes...."
"I've been indicted by the government on 91 different things," Trump said. "So if I wasn't a libertarian before, I sure as hell am a libertarian now."
More coverage from NBC News: At times, Trump turned on the crowd, criticizing libertarians' turnout at previous elections. "You can keep going the way you have for the last long decades and get your 3% and meet again, get another 3%," Trump said following jeers from the crowd.
Another high-profile supporter for commuting Ulbricht's sentence is actor-turned documentary maker Alex Winter. Best known for playing slacker Bill S. Preston Esq in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its sequels, Winter also directed, wrote, and co-produced the 2015 documentary Deep Web: The Untold Story of Bitcoin and the Silk Road (narrated by Keanu Reeves).
Writing earlier this month in Rolling Stone, Winter called Silk Road "inarguably a criminal operation" but also "a vibrant and diverse community of people from around the world. They were not only there for drugs but for the freedom of an encrypted and anonymous space, to convene and discuss everything from politics to literature and art, philosophy and drugs, drug recovery, and the onerous War on Drugs..." It's my firm opinion, and the opinion of many prison-system and criminal-law experts, that [Ulbricht's] sentence is disproportionate to his charges and that he deserves clemency. This case indeed reflects just one of the millions of unjust sentences in the long and failed War on Drugs... No matter what one thinks of Ulbricht, Silk Road, or the crimes that may have been committed, 10 years in prison is more than sufficient and customary punishment for those offenses or sins. Ross Ulbricht should be free.
Today a U.S. presidential candidate promised to commute that life sentence — Donald Trump, speaking at the national convention of the Libertarian Party as it prepares to nominate its own candidate for president.
Commuting Ulbricht's life sentence is "a top demand" of a political movement that intends to run its own candidate against Trump, reports Semafor: "On day one, we will commute the sentence," Trump said, offering to free the creator of what was once the internet's most infamous drug clearinghouse. "We will bring him home." His speeches more typically include a pledge to execute drug dealers, citing China as a model.
"It's time to be winners," said Trump, asking rhetorically if third party delegates wanted to go on getting single-digit protest votes. "I'm asking for the Libertarian Party's endorsement, or at least lots of your votes...."
"I've been indicted by the government on 91 different things," Trump said. "So if I wasn't a libertarian before, I sure as hell am a libertarian now."
More coverage from NBC News: At times, Trump turned on the crowd, criticizing libertarians' turnout at previous elections. "You can keep going the way you have for the last long decades and get your 3% and meet again, get another 3%," Trump said following jeers from the crowd.
Another high-profile supporter for commuting Ulbricht's sentence is actor-turned documentary maker Alex Winter. Best known for playing slacker Bill S. Preston Esq in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its sequels, Winter also directed, wrote, and co-produced the 2015 documentary Deep Web: The Untold Story of Bitcoin and the Silk Road (narrated by Keanu Reeves).
Writing earlier this month in Rolling Stone, Winter called Silk Road "inarguably a criminal operation" but also "a vibrant and diverse community of people from around the world. They were not only there for drugs but for the freedom of an encrypted and anonymous space, to convene and discuss everything from politics to literature and art, philosophy and drugs, drug recovery, and the onerous War on Drugs..." It's my firm opinion, and the opinion of many prison-system and criminal-law experts, that [Ulbricht's] sentence is disproportionate to his charges and that he deserves clemency. This case indeed reflects just one of the millions of unjust sentences in the long and failed War on Drugs... No matter what one thinks of Ulbricht, Silk Road, or the crimes that may have been committed, 10 years in prison is more than sufficient and customary punishment for those offenses or sins. Ross Ulbricht should be free.
Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:5, Insightful)
So what do you expect? A sudden consideration for something besides his own interests?
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:5, Insightful)
Doubt he knows that much. All he knows is that it's a potential political button he can press to trigger a Pavlov reaction with some people. That's all he's after.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:2)
Doubt he knows that much. All he knows is that it's a potential political button he can press to trigger a Pavlov reaction with some people. That's all he's after.
He's done this before. He commuted the sentence of a fraudster who stole $230 million from people, and once released, that same person turned around and committed fraud again [businessinsider.com].
The attorney for the fraudster had this to say:
"Does it help if you have money and the right connections?" Barry Wachsler, who paid legal fees associated with Mr. Weinstein's court appeals and clemency push, told The Times. "You know, I guess it does. It definitely does."
Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:5, Insightful)
Detach yourself from the idea that Trump gives a hoot about what party he is using to feed his narcissistic tendencies. All Trump cares about is Trump. If it was popular to sing the Internationale, you'd be seeing him do Karaoke evenings in his campaigning tour.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:2)
Detach yourself from the idea that Trump gives a hoot about what party he is using to feed his narcissistic tendencies. All Trump cares about is Trump. If it was popular to sing the Internationale, you'd be seeing him do Karaoke evenings in his campaigning tour.
Exactly. He is salesman, through and through and will say whatever it takes to close the deal; nothing is off limits because he knows his supporters will rationalize anything he says that is outlandish.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:5, Insightful)
He doesn't care about political parties or their ideals. He said as much in an interview. He only ran republican because "they have the dumbest voters" (his words not mine). A charlatan relies on the gullibility of others to succeed.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:4, Informative)
Problem here is that his ideals is him.
In other words, you disagree with him, you're in trouble. No matter what party you think you belong to.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:2)
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:2, Informative)
Somebody approaches me with their rifle at low ready on a public street that ain't law enforcement while my vehicle is trapped and they're getting the same treatment.
In Perry's case it was a bit more complicated [texasmonthly.com]
In 2020, Perry had run a red light and driven into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters, when Foster, an Air Force veteran who was in legal possession of a rifle, approached his car. Perry then shot him five times. No witnesses testified that Foster raised his gun at Perry, and, when questioned by the authorities following the shooting, Perry also indicated that Foster never aimed at him. A jury determined Perry was not acting in self-defense and convicted him of murder. But Governor Greg Abbott disagreed, and promised to pardon him.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:2, Informative)
Oh look, some dumbfuck who doesn't know what the low ready position is. At less than a half a second to acquire a close range target and fire there is no difference at that range from low ready and being aimed at. Not to mention concealment is not cover and Foster could have easily killed Perry by blind firing through the car door.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:3)
Thankfully, Sarge has our squadron run low ready position in each morning's drill.
Should I ever need to visit Kroger, I'll be prepared.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:3, Informative)
Luckily for us there is video evidence which the DA suppressed submitting as evidence at trial. Seeing the video, Garret pointed his gun at the car.
Re: Already pardoned convicted war criminals (Score:2)
Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
What a very blatant act of whoring. Is Don Snoreleone in some sort of trouble to peddle himself so cheaply?
Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Even the libertarians aren't very much impressed, though: https://www.c-span.org/video/?... [c-span.org]
Re:Wow (Score:3)
Big schism in the LP right now, some far-right white supremacists weirdos have made the usually amusing weirdos in the Libertarian Party look bad. Some of the people I know are super pissed and want to kick people out or leave the party, they aren't quite sure yet what is even feasible. But they want to get the hell away from the racists and fascist-loving fake libertarians.
Some of these guys are super weird, they say things like that believe only the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution are valid, and somehow the others need to be removed or are illegitimate. Some are left overs from anti-government militias that volunteer for border patrol. There is maybe some intersection with the LP on that one, but the official platform [lp.org] is that people can cross borders as long as they are peaceful.
Honestly, it's a bit tough to get much consistency out of most card carrying members these days, people are all over the map on what parts of the official platform they accept.
Re:Wow (Score:2)
But they want to get the hell away from the racists and fascist-loving fake libertarians.
Well, that, at least, is a good thing. From what little I know, it appears LP is an umbrella for anything from complete anarchism to Laissez-faire fascism, so I don't know if it is really a party, or just a convenient label to manifest one's snowflakeness.
Re:Wow (Score:2)
>LP is an umbrella for anything from complete anarchism to Laissez-faire fascism
It boils down to "I should be allowed to do anything I want" with absolutely no consideration of what happens when everyone else is doing that same thing. They all think they will be the local warlord with gangs of thugs protecting them... which is statistically impossible of course. They're far more likely to be the poor peasant who can't afford protection and gets frequently brutalized with no method of recourse.
And even then... there's nothing in the philosophy to guide how that kind of system would work beyond the neighbourhood scale, so you're looking at a complete breakdown of cooperation at the regional, state, and national levels.
Libertarianism is a philosophy for short-sighted man-babies.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
I think "fake libertarians" are most of the people who identify as libertarians. The party is just too convenient of a hiding place and close-enough political position for people with publicly unacceptable ideologies, so it's mostly packed with racists, fascists, and corporatocrats, with a few "true libertarians" who either don't understand that they're vastly outnumbered or are willing to hold their nose and stay in the tent.
Re:Wow (Score:2)
people are all over the map on what parts of the official platform they accept.
So it's basically a religion?
Re:Wow (Score:2)
It's more like a public library that lets anyone inside, but only stocks Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman.
Re:And college loans? (Score:2)
Was Ross Ulbricht legally and lawfully convicted for hiring or trying to hire a killer, or was he not?
Re:And college loans? (Score:5, Insightful)
It wasn't flimsy, his attempted contract-killing was extensively documented, the state probably just decided that locking him up forever for being a massive drug kingpin was sufficient.
Re:And college loans? (Score:5, Insightful)
Show us how Trump is bad in comparison to the other choice, please!
He's a wannabe-dictator with plainly autocratic tendencies who will try to thwart America's democracy again and would likely succeed? He's an anti-environmentalist? He has a record of nominating racists like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller to powerful positions? He cozies up to and emboldens adversarial dictators while demeaning Western alliance groups? He childishly mishandled a pandemic to the tune of 100k+ avoidable American deaths? He retained a vested interest in his companies while in office and never released his tax returns? He's pardoned war criminals and racist murderers for political points while Biden has not? I mean if you can't see how Trump is stupendously bad in comparison to possibly every other president and presidential candidate in history, and certainly any he has gone up against from another party, then we just have wildly different definitions of "bad" and probably won't agree on anything.
Also I'd bet there are fewer people who think that uber-drug-kingpin and attempted contract-killer Ross Ulbricht got an unjust sentence than those who beleive OJ was innocent.
Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:5, Insightful)
The guy has no moral convictions, he just says whatever the people in the room want him to, unless he's already had an opinion on the subject in which case he'll never change
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:5, Interesting)
Correct. Back in the day he took a full-page ad out calling for the Central Park 5, who were eventually exonerated of the crimes they were accused of, to be executed.
Now he's going to commute the sentence for somebody convicted of being involved in murders for hire?
Though I lived through the '90s. The height of the violent crime epidemic (you think violent crime is high now, it was something like 3X higher back then). Desperate measures were considered frequently.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
somebody convicted of being involved in murders for hire?
Ulbricht was never convicted of any murder for hire.
Prosecutors accused him but admitted that no murders had taken place, and they didn't have sufficient evidence to convict him of even attempting to hire a murderer.
One of the reasons the Libertarians are pushing for his release is that the murder-for-hire allegations were used during the sentencing phase to convince the judge to give Ulbricht a much harsher sentence, and that's not how the courts are supposed to work. He's basically locked up for life for something that was never proven in court.
How many lives did he save by moving heroin sales out of schoolyards and streetcorners and into an online marketplace that shut out the gangs?
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
One of the reasons the Libertarians are pushing for his release is that the murder-for-hire allegations were used during the sentencing phase to convince the judge to give Ulbricht a much harsher sentence, and that's not how the courts are supposed to work.
So why this guy then? That's a systemic flaw throughout the entire justice system and plea bargaining in general.
No, it's not anything like "try and fix something that's broken", it's "make a token act while not changing anything or even admitting the system is broken".
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
So why this guy then?
Ulbricht is a libertarian hero for championing free markets.
The government went after him as part of the WOD, which libertarians want to end.
He went to prison for life for matching willing buyers with willing sellers.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:3)
Attacking people for opposing injustice because they aren't immediately and continuously opposing every injustice in the world is the stupidest thing I've read so far today.
I addressed the situation with Ulbricht because that's who this story is about.
Sounds like you don't give a crap about the destruction of the rainforest. You didn't mention it in your post.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
You're using cargo-cult reasoning.
It doesn't work because we're talking about EXACTLY the same injustice, namely excessive sentencing, especially through the application of trumped up charges with vastly excessive sentencing to get plea bargains.
But the thing apparent in your writing that you care about is not that, but that a libertarian ended up on the receiving end.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
>"He's basically locked up for life for something that was never proven in court."
He was convicted of "Drug Trafficking Conspiracy" and "Distribution and aiding and abetting distribution of narcotics" which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Same thing El Chapo was charged with.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:3)
"Maximum sentence" is very different from "typical sentence".
The maximum sentence is high to coerce people into plea bargains and to disproportionately punish those who assert their right to a fair trial.
90% of Federal indictments end in plea bargains, 8% are dismissed, and 2% go to trial.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
Correct. Back in the day he took a full-page ad out calling for the Central Park 5, who were eventually exonerated of the crimes they were accused of, to be executed.
Now he's going to commute the sentence for somebody convicted of being involved in murders for hire?
Though I lived through the '90s. The height of the violent crime epidemic (you think violent crime is high now, it was something like 3X higher back then). Desperate measures were considered frequently.
Back in the day? He still hasn't backed down [nytimes.com]!!
“You have people on both sides of that,” he said at the White House. “They admitted their guilt.”
“If you look at Linda Fairstein and if you look at some of the prosecutors, they think that the city never should have settled that case — so we’ll leave it at that,”
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
Indeed. While there are reasons to admire somebody who is willing to do whatever it takes, such a person should never be given power of any kind.
Re:Says Whatever the People in the Room Want (Score:2)
NO, spineless.
Truly the party of law and order. (Score:4, Insightful)
Tell us again about the illegal immigrants flooding our country with drugs.
Give him the benefit of the doubt (Score:3)
Maybe he'll free him, "bring him home"... and then shoot him.
Let's see whether the cheap lies work... (Score:3)
They have before. They might now.
Party Libertarians, ugh (Score:2)
They're the reason I always need to clarify "small elle libertarian, not big elle party member".
Re:Party Libertarians, ugh (Score:3)
*Raises Spock Eyebrow*
As IAmWay mentioned, there's a lot of relatively sane small-l libertarians out there (I'm one of them). The party though, is generally filled with nuts, and these days contaminated with Randians*, Anarchists who don't want to be associated with the bad reputation of "anarchy", Far-Right types who, indeed, hear "low taxes and freedom" and think it's great without looking into the rest of the philosophy, which they're actually diametrically opposed to, etc...
It's kind of like how you could be a bible-thumping pro-lifer who loves guns and still join the democrat party, or a atheist pro-choice gun hater and join the Republican.
It's like how Ben Shapiro had a briefish fling with calling himself libertarian before he realized that he's not a libertarian at all, and stopped.
I don't consider myself a fascist, I don't like weed(though I would legalize it), and wouldn't generally repeal age of consent laws. But I do consider myself a libertarian, as it's the closest political philosophy to my beliefs. I'm certainly not a republican or democrat.
*Randians and Libertariasn hated each other back in the day; similarities in desired policies were purely coincidental.
Re: Party Libertarians, ugh (Score:2)
Itâ(TM)s annoying that Libertarians have hijacked the word libertarian. I think of authoritarian/libertarian as an alternative y-axis on the regular chart of left-/right-wing. Try out the questionnaire here and see where you are: https://www.politicalcompass.o... [politicalcompass.org]
Re: Party Libertarians, ugh (Score:2)
And Hitler was a Conservative. And the Religious Right wants "the liberty to tell you what to think and do", they must also be Liberals.
Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day 1? (Score:5, Informative)
Honestly... How anybody with half a brain cell still listens to this guy is beyond me. And it's not even a political opinion: this guy talk crap all the time. Even if you're a hard-core republican and you agree with his societal project - and your moral values aren't put off by the whole Stormy Daniels thing - you can't possibly not see that he's talking utter crap.
Re: Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on da (Score:2)
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:5, Insightful)
>ironically, for the rest of the world (with half a brain), right now trump seems by far both the best and the more moral choice for a us president
Nope. It's exclusively the fascist-leaning countries (or fascist-leaning politicians within non-fascist countries) that express support for Trump.
The rest of the world is preparing to deal with Trump in case he wins, while wondering what the fuck is wrong with Americans who can't see that Trump is a horrible human being with limited intellect and corrupt to the core. The fact that he is a viable presidential candidate after an attempted coup (however pathetic it was) is insane.
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:5, Insightful)
>i really hope he gets elected, and you should consider the consequences too.
Yeah, the impending Trump vengeance tour where he starts doing everything he's been accusing the Democrats of, including weaponizing the justice system against his perceived enemies and pardoning his supporters, using a patronage system placing radical loyalists in critical government positions rather than even pretending to care about qualifications, scapegoating the LGBTQ and immigrant communities... oh yeah, that sounds like a great time.
Trump may not destroy the US, but he will make it much worse and clear a path for another even worse successor. Biden may keep things on their current course and that may be making it worse, but it's still orders of magnitude better than a Trump administration. There have already been four years of Trump in the White House, and last time there were people resisting him. Next time, that resistance will be less effective and he will implement more of his agenda.
Everyone who thinks they've made a deal with Trump eventually finds out they're disposable to him and his loyalties only run in one direction. This includes his voting base.
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:4, Insightful)
Buddy, you're in a cult but you've taken the first step to escaping; you know it's a stupid cult and you're ashamed enough to post as AC.
The next step is to overcome that shame and instead of doubling down on the stupid, come to your senses.
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:3)
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:5, Informative)
it's just that he's the sole us president of the last 2 decades that isn't a warmonger.
These are just MAGA propaganda talking points. No one thinks Trump is seriously "anti-war". His administration was involved in plenty of military strikes and he almost started a war with Iran (plus he ripped up a treaty letting them advance their nuclear weapons program). Really the only reason he didn't start a NEW war was the chance didn't come up or he was prevented by his staff.
and compared to the alternative, he at least hasn't endorsed any actual genocide
His position on Gaza is that Israel needs to do it faster because it's bad PR. The Biden admin has been working to get ceasefires and a peacefully resolution, I can't imagine a Trump admin would attempt any of that.
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:4, Insightful)
Asking as a small part of the rest of the world, what's moral about choosing a person as a president who has shown that he's corrupt through and through, cares about nothing but himself, and himself alone, and who has shown zero interest in the country he is supposed to represent beyond the question how to fleece it the best?
Re:Isn't he supposed to be a 1-day dictator on day (Score:2)
As a small part of the rest of the world that shares a border with the US, I really hope they sort out their shit really soon; the anti-intellectual, fuck-you-I-got-mine, Jesus justifies my evil shit is scary when it is controlling half the votes in such a large economic and military power.
I can't say as a Canadian I look forward to being treated as a citizen of an enemy state at the economic mercy of someone like Trump who believes it's right to take whatever he can.
Full court press to stay out of jail (Score:2)
Re:Full court press to stay out of jail (Score:2)
The serving he's concerned with most right now is probably time rather than office.
I remember (Score:5, Insightful)
When Trump said Take the guns first, go through due process second https://thehill.com/homenews/a... [thehill.com]
But his cult was somehow all hard of hearing that day.
Re:I remember (Score:3)
I'm reminded of the time where the democrats and the republicans both proposed essentially identical red flag law bills. The only difference was that the republican version had tight timelines for judicial review, as well as measures to protect the confiscated property. Both failed in party-line votes. Lost some respect for the democrats that day. Because a red-flag law with judicial review should be better under their world view than no red-flag law, but they still vetoed it, meaning that they want the situation to stay bad so they get what they really want.
I'd view it a bit like arresting somebody with due cause and/or "baker act" for suspected mental problem that could cause harm to themselves or others in an immediate manner - you need to act quickly.
But it should start being reviewed as quickly as practical, like the next business day, to make sure everything was done correctly.
Re:I remember (Score:2)
Red flag laws of what kind? What subject? What are you referring to?
Re:I remember (Score:2)
But his cult was somehow all hard of hearing that day.
Just that day?
Media companies... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Media companies... (Score:3)
Not only media companies, caricaturists all over the globe celebrated for weeks in 2016.
Alternative headline (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing he says has anything to do with truth, reality, what he will do in the future, or what he has done in the past except by pure coincidence. All I can say is, we're lucky that he's so breathtakingly stupid that after an entire lifetime of lying, he still hasn't learned that you shouldn't tell lies that are unnecessary or trivially disproven.
Re:Alternative headline (Score:3)
...he's so breathtakingly stupid that after an entire lifetime of lying, he still hasn't learned that you shouldn't tell lies that are unnecessary or trivially disproven.
Why not? The important thing is that his supporters couldn't care less if it's the truth or a pack of lies.
You can literally show them the proof and they just don't care, they're happy to be lied to.
Re:Alternative headline (Score:3)
YOU haven't learned that you can completely fool 40% no matter how blatantly obvious you are if you copy Trump's behavior. You can whine like a spoiled rich brat but if you do it in a angry bully tone people don't see you for the wimpy snot you are.
Between Ulbricht and Hannibal Lecter (Score:2)
I would still prefer the later to be pardoned, since he's a fictional character. And the former was into murder for hire in real life.
Re:Between Ulbricht and Hannibal Lecter (Score:3)
And the former was into murder for hire in real life.
Odd that he didn't get convicted of murder then...
Re:Between Ulbricht and Hannibal Lecter (Score:2)
Fair enough. The charges were dropped by the feds. Apparently because he was already going to serve life on other charges.
Which doesn't mean the conspiracy to commit murder didn't happen, but it isn't proven.
Ross Ulbricht: criminal mastermind :o (Score:3)
b. Don't conduct business, day after day, in the same public library.
c. Don't conduct your illegal online pharmaceutical business on Microsoft Windows.
Re:Ross Ulbricht: criminal mastermind :o (Score:4, Insightful)
Why wouldn't I use russulbricht@gmail.com to engage in illegal activities? If anything, it would make people hunt and incarcerate the wrong guy.
Remember, kids: The perfect crime isn't one that remains unsolvable. The perfect crime is one that is closed because they have found someone to tack it on.
Hypocrisy At It's Finest (Score:2)
It proves they don't care about crime as long as you'll suck fascist dick. You can murder people in broad daylight but if you suck the right dick the legions will decry it as a political stunt and get your murder trial deleted.
You can't brag about executing drug dealers while simultaneously letting one go. That...is pretty disgusting. It shows it's not about the crime at all. That none of this is about rule of law.
It's about "rule over people".
Re:Hypocrisy At It's Finest (Score:2)
It is a fanatic form of denial, that he shares with a lot of his supporters. Oh well, reality will eventually hit them in the face, and again and again and again. Of course, they will just keep denying it. If there is a heaven, and God is very forgiving, I am pretty sure they will continue the argument with him for eternity.
Personally I vote for electroshock therapy. "The immigrants are..." ZZZZZZAP, I did not lose the "ZZZZZZAP". May need to built a few extra powerplants for that.
As you have guessed, I am fed up with these Karens. Luckily, if you look good enough around, there is plenty of normal and nice people.
Re:Hypocrisy At It's Finest (Score:2)
"He just wants to be right all the time, while he is ... just plain stupid."
Trump doesn't believe in right and wrong, knowledge is the enemy to Trump.
Trump thinks everyone is like him, only he's better at it than everyone else. It's not about being right, it's about his lies being accepted as truth. Everything is a lie according to Trump, so it's only a matter of whose lies win out.
"So ruling over people is just a side effect, not the main motivator, in my opinion."
Ruling over people is not a side effect, it is an entitlement. Trump does not create wealth, he steals it. You can't do that without having control over people.
His goal of the Presidency was not merely to feed his massive ego, it was ultimate control that would enable the ultimate grift. He never believed he would win, it was all a game to maximize his ability to take money from people.
What is most interesting is not that Trump supporters continue to worship him, SuperKendalls do not change, but that Trump is clearly suffering accelerating dementia. How obvious does it need to be? It is not only conceivable that Trump could win election for President but that he could be entirely unfit to even be sworn in. He literally thinks he's running against Obama and believed that Nikki Haley was Speaker of the House on Jan6. Unified Reich? He can't even hide his Hitler idolatry any more.
Not so knowledgeable about US politics (Score:2)
Re:Not so knowledgeable about US politics (Score:2)
Trump doesn't want to free anyone but himself. Trump cares about no one but himself.
Trump is looking for groups of votes that can be bought with cheap promises, regardless of how offensive they are. Offensiveness is merely a bonus.
Re:Not so knowledgeable about US politics (Score:2)
Trump wants to free a convicted white collar criminal because he wants to set a precedent for his own case.
It's so fun watching this (Score:3)
So, when some people say that the guy's sentence was excessive and should be commuted, well, you like those people, so that's okay, lol.
(Yes, Trump is a clown ... but to my amazement, you still can't do better than a clown. It's also ironic watching a bunch of guys in rubber noses and fright wigs pile out of the clown car to point at him and call him a clown ... )
Yes, I would just hate to have that full employment, super low inflation, and energy independence back. Somebody save us, lol!
Re:It's so fun watching this (Score:2)
You mean what he had before the Ukraine war when we could easily get cheap oil, gas and food?
Yeah, kick Russia out of Ukraine and we have that again.
Quote of the day (Score:5, Interesting)
"I've been indicted by the government on 91 different things," Trump said. "So if I wasn't a libertarian before, I sure as hell am a libertarian now."
Listen carefully, SuperKendall and all the rest of you genius Libertarians, Trump believes you are all criminals just like he is. Trump thinks Libertarians are a union of criminals trying to avoid accountability. Is he wrong?
How about posting the whole story? (Score:2)
Especially why he dropped that "all you get is the 3%" bomb.
Because even the libertarians booed him and called him a hypocrite. And when the big, orange baby had enough, he threw a tantrum.
Silk road (Score:2)
Did everyone forget all the non-drug items on sale on that site?
Murder for hire et c...
Civil asset forfeiture (Score:2)
They should have asked Trump why he supports civil asset forfeiture and his opinions on bump stocks.
The libertarian party is hopelessly infiltrated by whacknuts who never met a tyrant they didn't like.
LIbertarian Convention (Score:2)
Didn't go so great. Good number of them made a stand, bless 'em. Now, he'll want to dissolve that org (Trump supporters and all) after destroying it's leaders (Trump supporters and all) for defying him unless the major voices produce tribute. Which will seem like betrayal to it members (sorry kids) and it will then crumble. After the election of course.
Only Trump (Score:2)
Booed offstage (Score:3)
And Trump was booed relentlessly, both coming in and leaving. He was basically booed offstage.
Libertarians, as misguided and myopic as they may be, aren't falling for Trump's bullshit, not even a little.
This actually raised my estimation of Libertarians by a microscopic amount.
Life sentence (Score:3)
The reason for the life sentence was evidence supporting murder for hire plots. Although this wasn't part of the charges, the court did find the evidence to be substantive. Had Ulbrich confined himself to the money and drugs, I could support a much lower sentence. He was offered a deal for a ten year sentence, but he turned it down. But given the murder conspiracy evidence, I'd say let him rot in jail.
There is a long distance between what I consider a true Libertarian philosophy and the "anything goes" position of Ulbrich. If we want more Libertarian principles to be adopted into our system of government, we need to demonstrate that there still will be limits. To make it palatable to the majority.
Re:How about SBF? (Score:2)
Is that sort of like how if the search dogs hadn't found the school bus full of dead kids you buried in your back yard you would have gotten away with it, too?
Re:How about SBF? (Score:3)
Exactly, bro.
Everything is cool, you can do anything you want as long as no one dies. Death is the only standard for committing crimes. Anything you do that doesn't result in death is ok.
There are countless people filling prison cells who have committed a huge range of crimes from simple white collar theft from their employer to multiple brutal child rapes that would agree with you.
When they found the bus in your backyard that was ok too because none of the kids you buried alive in it had died, yet. Right? If only the neighbor hadn't seen and reported you, you would have just raped them all, only a few times each, then released them. Alive, to make sure it wasn't a crime. Definitely the mean neighbor's fault for ratting on you!
Re:How about SBF? (Score:3)
Yeah yeah bro, we don't catch every criminal so uh Trump/Biden!
Re:How about SBF? (Score:3)
Re: Fuck Trump (Score:3)
Yup. I printed a lot of t-shirts saying exactly that during the 2020 election season. Gave tons away. Wore them too. Got lots of high fives and positive comments in public places in CA.
I think it's time to print a new batch. They need to go to swing states this time, though.
Re: Fuck Trump (Score:3)
Is to... checks notes...
Free a criminal"
Re:Biden stole the 2020 election (Score:2)
Disloyalty is treason. Or will be next year.
Re:Joe Biden is a pedophile (Score:5, Informative)
Biden ain't the one who can't pronounce words...regularly linky [newrepublic.com]
Biden ain't the one promising to release convicted, unrepentant criminals.
Biden ain't the one literally and explicitly asking for quid pro quo from oil companies for money.
Re:Joe Biden is a pedophile (Score:4, Insightful)
Biden *destroyed* the GOP at SOTU. Hours of reading that teleprompter intermixed with ad-libs calling the bluff of MTG and others.
Destroyed them so badly they had to make up the excuse that he *must* have been *on something*. That koolaid must taste good cuz you be drinking it.
Also he still hasn't promised to release convicted criminals. You forgot to mention that I'm sure.
Re:Whatever. Criminals gonna crime. (Score:2)
The man isn't eligible for office under the US Constitution, period.
From your lips to the Supreme Court Justices ears -- oh, wait. :-(
Re:Whatever. Criminals gonna crime. (Score:2)
Re:No, fuck you. Trump will be convicted (Score:5, Informative)
What prison cell? The Supreme Court has effectively delayed any prosecution until after the election in the Fake Electors Scheme run by the Ovoid Office while that dolt was trying to find its corners into which to pee. The corrupt judge in Florida, whom he put on the bench even though she was unqualified to be a bus crossing guard, has elected to not even set a trial date over the classified documents case. And the Supreme Court in Georgia is now deciding how to best kneecap the trial in the Georgia Just-Find-Me-Enough-Votes case. The only cases that have moved forward excepting the current one (for relatively low level federal felonies) were civil cases. There was one previous federal case of last year that found his toy company and he committed fraud.
In the civil case in NYS, he and his toy company were convicted of fraud. It turns out his business acumen was committing not quite enough fraud to get caught before Michael Cohen blew the whistle. That's up for appeal but the appeal will go nowhere except possibly limiting his liability. The E. Jean Carrol cases he lost, and those and the previous federal case were in front of juries, that still left him whining about the judges.
Now that bozo is claiming Biden tried to have him assassinated because the FBI had authority to use deadly force, which they have for any raid. Somehow, they managed to do the raid while bozo and his secret service detail were in NJ. Some assassination plot. Wasn't he and his lawyers recently claiming the U.S. President had the right to use a Seal Team to assassinate a political rival. Does anyone doubt he'd do it if he knew he could get away with it? The deaths he helped cause in Ukraine don't bother him, neither to do the assassinations of his minder, Putin.
Re:No, fuck you. Trump will be convicted (Score:2)
Re:I'm surprised (Score:2)
The only reform that idiot will do is more corrupt judges. He want more Nazis like Alito, they make his life of grift easier.
Re:I just don't give a shit (Score:3)
If you FEEL the two sides are both clowns then you need to turn your brain back on. One literally is a clown with heavy makeup and colored hair in a goofy iconic style... and you feel they are the same?
The country is collapsing because the people are corrupt and the system is somewhat functioning in representing them with a corrupt former president ; usually, every human flaw of the populace doesn't manifest itself in a single representative but it's finally happened.
It's time to realize the USA has become what it elects and it's not merely ignorance of a well intended population.